. 'Kartika ' month is considered to be the most sacred one,among all the
twelve months of the year.During this month all the pious Hindus
refrain from eating non vegetarian food.The followers take early
morning bath and perform poojas at home or in the temples.Kartik
Pournima,is a holy
day celebrated on the full
moon day or the
fifteenth lunar day of Kartik(Nov-Dec).

Many fairs which begin on
Prabhodini Ekadashi,end on Kartik purnima.Kartik purnima is the last
day to perform the 'Tulsi Vivah.Among the all festivals dedicated to
Lord Shiva,Kartik purnima is the only one,which is next to 'MahaShivaratri'.
It is also known as Tripuri
poornima or Tripurari
Poornima.It is also reffered to as,Dev-Diwali,Dev-Deppawali,the festival of lights of the gods.

Kartik poornima is also the birthday of Matsya,Lord Vishnu's
fish-avatar(incarnation).It is also the birthday of Vrinda,the personification of the Tulsi plant
and of Kartikeya,
the god of war and son of Shiva-Parvati.It is also believed that Krishna and Radha danced
'Rasa' and
Shri.Krishna,the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, worshipped Radha on this day.This day is also dedicated to
the dead ancestors

The last five days of Kartok month are considered to be more sacred and
every day the food is taken only once in the afternoon which is known
as 'Habisha'. These five days, together are called 'Panchaka' and the
last day is the "Kartika Purnima".As per the legends,the Lord Shiva
killed the demon 'Tripurasura' on this day.

Jainism

Kartik Poornima is very auspicious and religious day for the Jains.This is the day of ‘Nirvana’ of Lord Mahavira,
the twenty-fourth Tirthankara.To them it is the Deva Diwali
when Lord Mahavira is worshiped, Agams (Jain holy books) are read and homes and
temples are illuminated. Lamps are lit under the moonlight sky and a family
feast celebrates this day.Jains
celebrate it by visiting 'Palitana' one
of the most famous Jain pilgrimage places.

A big crowd of Jain pilgrims
gather at the foothills of Shatrunjay
hills of Palitana
taluka on the day of Kartik Poornima,to begin the auspicious yatra
(journey).This walk
is also known as 'Shri Shantrunjay Teerth Yatra',an important religious event in the life of a Jain devotee.A
distance of almost 220 kms in rough mountainous terrain is
covered on foot to worship the Lord Adinath,on the top of the hill.

The hills,which are closed for public
during the four months of monsoon,are made open for the devotees on Kartik Poornima.The
jain devotees are abstained from worshipping the God for
four months of monsoon and Kartik Poornima is the first day after
monsoon,when they begin their worship.So, the first day attracts the maximum
number of devotees and has a special importance.According to Jainism , Adinath,
the first tirthankara,
sanctified the hills by visiting it to deliver his first sermon.According to Jain
texts,millions of sadhus and sadhvis have attained salvation on
these hills.

People take a sacred bath early in the
morning and draw beautiful flower- designs,rangolis in front of the
main entrances and around the tulsi vrindavan.The Shiva temples are
crowded with devotees singing the prayers and bhajans. Group singing
of 'kirtans' and loud beating of rhythms,especially, 'Mrudanga' and
cymbals are heard the whole day.

Boita Bandana
An Ancient Festival.
An interesting festival takes place in the
morning is significant to the ancient history of Orissa,which reminds
the maritime glory of the State.During the ancient times,for the
business purpose, the 'Sadhabas' (Sea traders) used to sail off to
very long distance islands like Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Ceylon etc. by
huge boats (Boita). Their women used to give them a warm send off on
this day.

Though it has become absolete,the memories are still alive.
Nowdays, people make tiny boats made
out of cork and coloured paper or bark of the banyan tree and float
them in the water,which is called 'Boita Bandana'.In the next fortnight
of the month,the dead ancestors are propitiated.A covered, perforated
earthen pot with an earthen lamp inside is hung on a pole to direct
the ancestral spirits to descend on their respective homes. The
members of the families light a bunch of jute-stalks with the
invocation- "Oh! The ancestors come in the darkness and go in the
light." This is called 'Badabadua Paka'.

Bali Yatra
In the city of Cuttack and some other
places huge images of "Kartikeswar" are built and worshipped. At night
they are taken out in procession and are immersed in the river
Mahanadi, near a Shiva temple. Exactly at this place a big fair known
as 'Bali Yatra' is held for about three-four
days.The name of the
festival has two significances. Some are of opinion that on this day
the Sadhabas were sailing off to Bali and therefore,the
name.

Some people also believe that the great Vaishnavite saint of Bengal
'Shri Chaitanya' ,on his way to Puri, landed at Cuttack,on this day ,after crossing the sand-bed (Bali) of
the river Mahanadi.Large number of people gather here, where
innumerable varieties of goods are bought and sold.People also enjoy
boat riding with friends and family in the moonlight.

Kartik Poornima is a non-violence day(ahimsa).On Kartik Poornima day,a ritual bath at a tirtha(a sacred water
body like a lake or river) at a pilgrimage place is advised,which is known as "Kartik
Snan".A
holy bath at Pushkar or in the river,
especially at Varanasi is
considered as most auspicious.Kartik Poornima is the most auspicious
day for a sacred bath,
in the river,Ganges at Varanasi.

Annakuta, an offering of food to the deities, is held in
temples.God Vishnu is
also worshipped on this day. People who
have taken vows on Ashwin full
moon day,end them on Kartik Poornima.This
includes shaving, hair-cutting, cutting of trees, plucking of fruits and
flowers, cutting of crops.Charity such as - donation of cows, feeding of Brahmins,fasting are religious activities prescribed for Kartik Poornima.

Images of Lord Shiva are carried in the procession.All the temple premises in soutern India are full of bright and
colorful lights throughout the night.Deepmalas or
towers of lights are illuminated in temples.People place 360 or 720 wicks(threads
of lamps) in temples, to attain 'Moksha'.The 720 wicks signifies the 360 days and nights of the Hindu calenader.

In Varanasi,
the ghats become bright with thousands of 'diyas' (lit earthern lamps).People gift lamps to priests.The lamps are kept throughout the
night in houses and Shiva temples.Lights are also floated in miniature boats in
rivers. Lights are placed under Tulsi,Sacred
fig and Amla tress.
The lights in the water and under trees are believed to give salvation to
fishes, insects and birds.Hence,this day is also known as 'Kartik Diparatna'
- the jewel of lamps in Kartik.

Shiva in his form as Tripurantaka (the Killer
of Tripurasura) killed the demon on this day.The demon Tripurasura
worshipped Lord Brahma and received massive powers from
him.Soon,Tripurasura was very arrogant about his ultimate and
unbeatable strength and started harrasing the people of three worlds.He
became totally uncontrollable.

The demi Gods immediately started praying the Lord Shiva.God Shiva
asked them the urge for the prayers and hard worship,the demi Gods
explained to him the nuissance of the demon Tripurasura. Tripurasura
had conquered the whole world and defeated the gods.He also craeted
three cities in the space,which were together called,'Tripura'.

Lord
Shiva,promised the gods that he would give them relief from the
demon.Lord Shiva with his divine powers fought with the demon for
several years,destroyed all his cities with a single arrow and finally
vanquished Tripurasura.The auspicious day was Kartik poornima.All the Gods were overjoyed by this and they celebrated the day as a
festival of illuminations.This day is hence called 'Dev-Diwali' - the
Diwali of
the gods.Diwali is the popular Hindu festival of lights.